EU may launch new sanctions against Israeli settlers 'soon'
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French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told the Paris Peace Forum that France has previously implemented penalties against "28 violent settlers" and played an important role in determining European Union-level sanctions.
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A Palestinian examines a torched vehicle, seen the morning after a rampage by Israeli settlers in the West Bank village of Jit, on August 16, 2024. (AP)
France's foreign minister warned Monday that the European Union might soon impose fresh penalties against Israeli settlements accused of inciting violence in occupied Palestine.
In September, the Palestinian Health Ministry revealed that 702 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) and settlers in the West Bank since October 7.
Jean-Noel Barrot told the Paris Peace Forum, an annual event dedicated to international discussion, that France has previously implemented penalties against "28 violent settlers" and played an important role in determining European Union-level sactions.
He stated that the EU's sanctions regime has already been engaged twice and "might be activated a third time soon".
The foreign minister reiterated France's deep care about "Israel's security" but cited that "international law needs to be respected and justice needs to be reached."
During a visit to the West Bank on Thursday, Barrot warned of fresh penalties and reiterated France's support for a two-state solution.
The United States, Britain, Canada, and Australia have all placed penalties on violent Israeli settlers. In August, the EU's foreign affairs commissioner, Josep Borrell, stated that Israeli settlers were undermining "any chance of peace" and urged the Israeli occupation to "stop these unacceptable actions immediately".
Sanctions would not be limited to violent settlers but also "enablers" of their actions like some Israeli occupation government officials.
1,490 attacks by IOF and settlers in the West Bank during October
The Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission reported earlier this month that Israeli occupation forces and settler groups carried out a total of 1,490 attacks in the West Bank during October.
According to the commission's monthly report, titled "Occupation Violations and Colonial Expansion Measures," Israeli forces were responsible for 1,130 attacks, while settler gangs conducted 360 assaults. The majority of these incidents were concentrated in the Nablus governorate, with 307 attacks, followed by al-Khalil with 280, and al-Quds with 179.
These attacks ranged from armed assaults on Palestinian villages to the imposition of facts on the ground, including extrajudicial killings, land destruction, tree uprooting, property confiscation, and the establishment of closures and checkpoints that disrupt the geographic continuity of Palestinian territories.
Settlers also engaged in 245 acts of vandalism and theft against Palestinians, which included 26 incidents of olive crop theft, 22 cases of olive-picking equipment theft, and the theft of 15 tents and caravans belonging to Palestinians, as well as three instances of vehicle theft.
